The afterlife of eternal joy for me is knowing that there is no afterlife. I tried to be a Christian - Lutheran, specifically. I gave it an honest try and I just could not find solace in believing in a vengeful higher power that has complete control over everything and everyone that will send you to an eternity of pain and suffering if I didn't worship him, but if if I did, I also had to follow all these rules (commandments) and then I'd have that sweet vacation you were talking about. That whole vacation thing sounded rad, but it's like an a salesman trying to sell you something; there's always a catch. The way I saw it, I had to live either in fear of God and his wrath and Satan and eternal damnation and be essentially a slave to a deity that I wasn't sure even existed or be free and live life to the fullest anyway and have no regrets when I die content with all the things I had the pains and pleasures of experiencing. I don't like to feel restricted, and that's what made me stray away from religion. Don't get me wrong, the teachings are great. I love the idea of loving thy neighbor as thyself and being a generally "good person," but I don't think it's wrong for homosexuals to be themselves, and I don't think it's wrong to want something cool that your neighbor just bought or to think that your neighbor's wife is pretty. We're all just human beings, I don't understand why it's so complicated to be okay with everybody until they directly wrong you in some way. I don't think we should need to use all these different ritualistic scams to convince people not to be dicks to each other, but if it helps, cool. But it obviously isn't. "But most religions advocate peace. " Yeah, you're right - until you encounter someone else who believe literally the exact same thing as you but has a different name for it and has a different skin color. Then that becomes an issue, right? Logically, no, but religiously, apparently so. Look at what the Islamic religion stands for: peace, love, happiness, literally Christianity with different names. Yet look at the extremists killing people and forming terror organizations. Look at the KKK or the Neo Nazis for the same example in Christianity. When you combine religion and power you get a mixture that is very dangerous and that's what's happening between two different religions today, and that's another reason I will not partake in this belief structure that I was brought up in. My sincerest apologies if I offended anybody with my words, whether they were too harsh or too many, should they have been unpleasant to you in any way, please accept my humble apology. I would be willing to continue any conversations should anyone want to further discuss this topic, I enjoy it very much. Thanks for reading if you did!
We can be rich and famous, have everything we've ever wanted, and still be miserable – just think of Robin Williams. I can imagine all these people going to heaven and complaining just as much as when they were in life. Think about it. We do not hear anyone talk about going to heaven and being a different person. People just imagine themselves, as they are, being in paradise. I don't know about you, but that will more than likely turn heaven into hell. What is that old saying, "you can take the person out of the trash but you cannot take the trash out of the person." We can see this all the time with lottery winners. They expect everything to change, and externally, it does, but "inside the cup," as Jesus says, it's as nasty as ever. For the mind, as Milton tells us, “is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.â€
Uhh, as an atheist I never felt discouraged about living a great life, if anything finding reason encouraged me. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
atheism noun noun: atheism disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods. Atheists are people who don't believe in god. Any assumption you make beyond that is foolish. I'm sick of people using atheism synonymously with nihilism. It's very easy to live a happy and fulfilled life without a god or belief in an afterlife.
I'm a nihilist. I live in a cave and eat my own feces. Every morning I leave my cave to chase good Christian kids on their way to school. I want to bite them and infect them with aids.
Maybe when we die, our consciousness gets replaced by other living organisms whether or not they were on earth or it a tottally different part of the universe! Ever think of that possibility? Sent from my iPod touch using Grasscity Forum
I don't understand how being a good person for the promise of an afterlife, actually makes you a good person. I try to be a good person, regardless of whether I'm getting rewarded at the end of it.
Based on what we know, it does not appear that their is an afterlife. The way I and many atheists look at it is like this. This life is our one shot. Therefore now is the time to make a positive impact and live up to the standard of morality that we have uncovered through science and reasoning. Based on what I know, I don't believe in any gods. I believe that religion is a system of false morality. I live my life now instead of living with the belief that my life now is a jumping off point to something else.
For as many atheists I have talked to that is not a very common question. Actually I see Christians asking atheists what's the point of being good in this life if their is no afterlife? Which is just sad that you need the comfort of the afterlife to be a good person. My grow journal http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-medical-marijuana-growing/1353929-mopheads-purple-closet-adventures.html
Well I think it comes down to what is this experience living on this planet and existing in this world all about? Is it due to randomness that we came about to be here or is it there a motive that we are supposed to follow along with the universe that we grew out of? Personally I think the message we're still getting out of scientific culture is well off the mark from how things truly are, and that being "off the mark" has greatly assisted in leading our society astray. We are still a species that cuts up large segments of its home planet in order to make more stuff that we don't really need. So as the trash piles up and the environment deteriorates around us, know that the reason for this is that the masses are not being properly taught what kind of situation they are in. And that's because the scientific underesting of our place in the universe that is being taught to the masses through the indoctrination process we call "education" is a "all bones" and "no flesh" type of understanding of the universe and our place in it. I mean, how else could you convince your typical homo sapein, whom is a product of billions of years of evolution, that his or her place in the universe is to dwell inside a cubicle or such for 40 plus hours a week? It's an understanding that completely minimalizes us. ------
Actually the advancement of science has made us more aware of our surroundings and brings us new efficient ways to use our technology. If you disagree with that it is ironic you are arguing on an advanced piece of technology. As for the whole "what's the meaning of life" argument, I hate to break it to you but there is no single meaning of life. That's a question that simple minded people asks themselves to feel significant. The meaning of life is whatever you make it out to be. Someone's meaning will be to make as much money as possible and enjoy the luxuries they work for. Some people it's raising their children and spending time with family. Some people it is their faith in religion and their promise of an afterlife. No answer is wrong except to say one is impossible, which apparently according to some people is being an atheist. My grow journal http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-medical-marijuana-growing/1353929-mopheads-purple-closet-adventures.html
Sure, I see the scientific era as a progressive era that was important for our species to experience. And a lot of the understandings that have come out of science have helped to clarify our situation to an extent. I just don't carry around the attachments to science like most people seem to do. Much like religion was replaced by science, science will be replaced with something better. That's how I see it. Because let's face it, science has nothing to say about consciousness or the nature of consciousness and that is a particular topic that our species will need much more awarness over, if we're going to progress anyways. So what will be born out of the decaying of scientific culture is a new understanding in which both the objective and subjective elements of the universe, or of reality, are represented in a balanced and incorporating fashion in which consciousness is spoken for, not ignored like our particle priests tend to do. If you ever look at the world and think that what you see is crazy, know that it is because we are not including consciousness into our greater understanding of the world, the universe, and of reality. ------
Btw...there is a difference between "meaning of life" and "...motive that we are supposed to follow along with the universe we grew out of." So there was a bit of a syntactical misstep there... ------
And here's another little nugget you can chew on....all these super tech toys we have nowadays and the technology that they are made out of, looks archaic and simple minded when compared to the technology that humans themselves are comprised of. We don't yet understand what we are capable of, and I can see how people in our society can lose sight of that fact when their nose is buried into a tablet or smartphone. ------
I think what you are looking for is philosophy. Science has its part in knowledge just like math, English, history. So what is math going to be phased out because it doesn't deal with your feelings? I think you have an extreme biased against science, but have no idea what it is. My grow journal http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-medical-marijuana-growing/1353929-mopheads-purple-closet-adventures.html
What you are trying to say is that what we consider pseudoscience will eventually become a field of science. Physics, medical science, biology, ect is not just going to get phased out lol My grow journal http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-medical-marijuana-growing/1353929-mopheads-purple-closet-adventures.html
I just stated my stance on science rather plainly. There's no need to speculate. Perhaps it's the other way around and you may have an attachment to science? You know, it's not uncommon due to the fact that science has in our culture been used over and over again to continually disprove religion. So people tend to see the two sides, science and religion, in the same way a baseball fan might see a rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees. It's the Hatfield/McCoy mentality that people unwittingly pick up when they treat "science" like this. When it's treated to oppose a religion, it becomes a religion itself. Is your reaction above any different than a Christian whose beliefs are threatened? Surely the problem must lie with me, right? ------